Akane Yamaguchi Reclaims Kumamoto Masters Title, Defeating Wang Zhiyi in Women’s Singles Final

Akane Yamaguchi won the Kumamoto Masters women’s singles title on Sunday defeating Wang Zhiyi 2-0 in the final.

The 29-year-old Japanese player capitalized on the absence of world number one An Se-young, who skipped the Super 500 event to rest and recover ahead of the BWF World Tour Finals in December.

Yamaguchi secured the victory with set scores of 21-14 and 22-20 against China’s Wang, the world number three.

She established an 11-8 lead at the interval before pulling away to 18-13 behind a powerful smash that international broadcasters described as an unbelievable strike.

The second game stretched across a grueling 31 minutes as Wang mounted a strong challenge. Wang built an early 9-4 advantage with aggressive diagonal attacks before Yamaguchi rallied to level the score at 10-10. Both players exchanged points late in the frame until Yamaguchi secured a 21-20 match point with a subtle drop shot, sealing the title when Wang hit her final return into the net.

To reach the final, Yamaguchi defeated China’s Chen Yufei in the semifinals. After dropping the first game 18-21 and bouncing back 21-8 in the second, Yamaguchi led 11-4 in the decider before Chen retired from the match.

Wang advanced to the title match by overcoming Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki 2-0 in the other semifinal, stringing together seven consecutive points in both games to establish control. The absence of An Se-young left the tournament wide open between Yamaguchi and Wang, as An holds an 11-match winning streak against Yamaguchi this season and handed Wang her only defeat of the year at the All England Open in March.